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Friday, December 14, 2007

Conditions for Using a Network Diagramming Template

Think about building a house when all the pieces are already prepared. You're only responsible for assembling the parts and making minor adjustments. Once you build the first house, you can use the pattern to build others.

Network diagram templates, like prefabricated houses, are standardized, pre-built components. They allow you to use successful past projects as models for the current project and schedule planning activities. Using network diagram templates helps you improve the accuracy of activity sequencing by highlighting successful practices from past projects.

Network diagram templates help you complete your work more quickly because much of the work has already been done for you. Using the successful elements from past projects also saves money on the overall current project.

Finding similarities between past and current projects is extremely helpful in planning and activity sequencing. It is appropriate to use network diagram templates as a tool for activity sequencing, when there are similarities between overall projects and among subprojects in larger projects.

Similarities between projects - The first situation in which you should consider using network diagram templates as a tool for activity sequencing is when similarities between two separate projects are identified. Some similarities between projects include phases and deliverables. Effective network diagram templates cover the entire project and are especially useful when the past and current projects share a common structure.

Consider the following example. Jack, the training director for a large engineering firm, is responsible for the continued development of in-house training courses. Since each training course has the same design cycle, Jack is able to use network diagram templates for activity sequencing of these internal courses.

Similarities between subprojects - The second situation in which network diagram templates are useful is when there are similar features within a single project. These features are often called subprojects or subnets. Subnet templates are useful for projects where there are several identical features within the work breakdown structure. After completing a network diagram for the first subnet, you can use it as a template for other components within the same project.

It is best to use subnet diagram templates with projects that have repetitive phases, such as floors in a high-rise building, clinical trials in pharmaceutical research, or program modules in a software project.

Network diagram templates can help you save time by reducing the duplication of effort where similarities between projects and subprojects exist. Understanding when to use diagramming templates will allow you to reach project goals more quickly an